Container



Sept. 19, 1967 H. BANK ETAL CONTAINER Filed March 28, 1966 W .I K R I M E A T a m m m H. B L A m w A V H P W 6 W I o l 7 F 4 o l 9 F FlG.l

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,342,609 CONTAINER Herbert Bank and Paul H. Carter, Baltimore, Md., assignors to Maryland Cup Corporation, Owings Mills, Md., a corporation of Maryland Filed Mar. 28, 1966, Ser. No. 538,095 2 Claims. (Cl. 99--137) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A novelty confectionery container is provided in the form of a" clear resilient plastic cylindrical sheet opened at either end with a double disc plunger of relatively soft material. The confection is disposed in the shell above the upper disc. The shell comprises an inwardly flanged edge at the bottom to abut the lower disc in its lowermost position. The opposite end of the shell is outwardly flared and provided with a flanged closure cap.

This invention relates to containers and it is more particularly concerned with containers in which an ice confection is held in a cylindrical enclosure and means are provided to slidably move the contents towards an open end of the container as the confection is consumed.

Conventional containers of this kind comprise a cylinder of cardboard closed at one end by means of an insert wall, usually a cardboard disc wedged into position. Spaced from this end wall another cardboard disc is slidably mounted in the cylinder and supports the ice confection. As the confection is eaten at the opposite end of the cylinder, the contents are elevated by moving the movable disc with a handle attached to it. The handle passes through a hole in the end Wall and is attached at its inner end to the center of the movable disc.

This prior type of construction has many disadvantages, among which is that it leaks melted ices. Also, the setting of the end wall to a given position presents a problem to insure uniform quantities of material placed in the cylinders. Assembly of the parts, usually a minimum of four, also presents problems of manufacture and excessive cost of production.

These items, which have found favor with small children, are frequently sold from vendors wagons in residential neighborhoods. They must be sold at a low price because of this special market condition. Hence, it is essential that all costs of production must be reduced to a minimum, including labor and materials.

It is, therefore, the general object of this invention to overcome the deficiencies of such prior art devices by improvements which (1) reduce the number of assembly parts, (2) provide a construction by which uniform quantities of material are loaded into the container during manufacture, (3) prevent leakage of melted ices in the container, (4) improve sanitary features, and (5) simplify the overall manufacture and use of the product as a whole.

A further object is to retain the parts assembled in a fixed position to avoid arrangement of the contents during packaging and storage.

These and still further objects, advantages and features of the invention will appear more fully from the following description considered together with the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing? FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of an embodiment of the invention filled with an ice confection material.

FIG. 2 is a sectional View along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view along the line 33 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view of a portion of FIG. 1 on a larger scale.

3,342,609 Patented Sept. 19, 1967 FIG. 5 is a sectional view along the line 5-5 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 1 on a smaller scale with the piston part moved towards the eating end of the cylinder.

Referring with more particularity to the drawing in which like numbers designate like parts, the embodiment illustrated comprises a cylindrical shell 11 of a resiliently flexible plastic material, such as a conventional polyolefin resin or a combination of such resins, a particularly suitable material being a composition of poly ethylene and polypropylene resins manufactured by Eastman Chemical Products, In-c., under the name of Polyallomer.

Both ends of the shell 11 are open. At the bottom of the shell an annular inturned flange 12 is provided. Inside of the shell, a pair of discs 13 and 14 are slidably disposed in axially spaced relation. These discs are held firmly in spaced relation by being made integral with the upper end of a handle 15. Both the handle and the discs are made of a stiff plastic material such as polystyrene and moulded in one piece.

The outer edges of the discs 13 and 14, respectively, are undercut at 16 and 17, respectively, to provide sharp annular edges 18 and 19. This undercutting reduces the area of contact between the disc edges and. the shell thereby to increase the pressure per unit area at the peripheries of the discs. This results in a greater sealing pressure to prevent the flow of melted material downwardly past the discs and also provides an effective Wiping action as the discs are moved in the shell, thereby keeping the portion of the shell below the discs substantially clean.

The shell 11 is first filled with a conventional fluid ice confection 20 such as ice cream, sherbets, etc. with the discs 13 and 14 in the position shown in FIG. 1. In this position the bottommost disc 14 abuts the flange 12. This provides a positive gauge for the volume in the shell above the disc 13 whereby a uniform quantity of material can always be placed in the containers at the time of filling. The spacing of the discs axially also retain them steady against tipping of the handle and, furthermore, provides an air space 21 which functions as a heat insulator. The latter is important when the device is held in the hand to prevent melting of the ice above the discs.

After the shell is filled with the ice material 20, the upper end of the shell is closed with a lid 22 having a flanged edge 23. The upper end of its shell is provided with an outwardly flared rim 24 to function as a seat for the edge 23. The edge 23 is sealed to the rim 24 by conventional sealing means (not shown) such as a hot sealing iron, glue, etc. and then stored in a conventional ice cream freezer where the contents are hardened before being sold.

The item is sold to the consumer in the form shown in FIG. 1. The consumer removes the lid 22 to expose the upper end of the ice confection in the shell and proceeds to consume it. When the level of the ice becomes too low for convenience, the consumer pushes the handle 15 upward in the shell which forces the confection to a convenient level. This is repeated until the entire confection is exposed for consumption as shown in FIG. 6.

We claim:

1. A novelty confectionery container comprising a smooth Walled cylindrical shell of a transparent resiliently flexible material open at either end, one open end having an inturned edge and the opposite end being outwardly flared, a pair of discs slidably mounted within the shell, said dis-cs being relatively rigid and having their outer edges undercut to a knife edge and in forcible contact with the interior surface of the shell, said discs being disposed in spaced relation to each other and a handle integral with said discs to hold them in fixed spaced relation and to facilitate manually sliding them axially in the shell, the disc adjacent the inturned edge being adapted to abut the inturnededge in one of its extreme end positions, whereby a predetermined volume of space is established in the shell between the other disc and the other end of the shell for measuring and holding a given quantity of material to be carried by the container.

2. A novelty confection comprising a container as defined by claim 1 in which the disc adjacent the inturned edge is disposed in abutting relation to the inturned edge at the bottom of the shell, an edible confectionery material in the shell above the other disc and a flanged closure member secured in the end of the shell above the confectionery material.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS France.

WILLIAM T. DIXSON, IR., Primary Examiner. 

1. A NOVELTY CONFECTIONERY CONTAINER COMPRISING A SMOOTH WALLED CYLINDRICAL SHELL OF A TRANSPARENT RESILIENTLY FLEXIBLE MATERIAL OPEN AT EITHER END, ONE OPEN END HAVING AN INTURNED EDGE AND THE OPPOSITE END BEING OUTWARDLY FLARED, A PAIR OF DISCS SLIDABLY MOUNTED WIWTHIN THE SHELL, SAID DISCS BEING RELATIVELY RIGID AND HAVING THEIR OUTER EDGES UNDERCUT TO A KNIFE EDGE AND IN FORCIBLE CONTACT WITH THE INTERIOR SURFACE OF THE SHELL, SAIDDISCS BEING DISPOSED IN SPACED RELATION TO EACH OTHER AND A HANDLE INTEGRAL WITH SAID DISCS TO HOLD THEM IN FIXED SPACED RELATION AND TO FACILITATE MANUALLY SLIDING THEM AXIALLY IN THE SHELL, THE DISC ADJACENT THE INTURNED EDGE BEING ADAPTED TO ABUT THE INTURNED EDGE IN ONE OF ITS EXTREME END POSITIONS, WHEREBY A PREDETERMINED VOLUME OF SPACE IS ESTABLISHED IN THE SHELL BETWEEN THE OTHER DISC AND THE OTHER END OF THE SHELL FOR MEASURING AND HOLDING A GIVEN QUANTITY OF MATERIAL TO BE CARRIED BY THE CONTAINER. 